Nuns “bullied” into gifting maternity hospital land and should be paid, according to high profile priest

He said they should be allowed to sell the site.

A high-profile priest has claimed nuns are being bullied into gifting maternity hospital land. Fr Brendan Hoban claimed that “a sustained effort is being made to bully the Sisters of Charity" into giving the 29-acre site at St. Vincent's Hospital away. He believes they shouldn't give the site away for free but should sell it and use the money to “use the enormous proceeds to re-direct their own medical services, especially towards the poor." Fr Hoban expressed his concerns in his column in the Western People. “Let the Sisters of Charity sell the site of the hospital to the state." He added that Leo Varadkar will have to explain the loss of millions of euro to the public. The Co. Mayo priest claimed politicians are acting anti-Catholic. He expressed concerns about the hospital's services, including abortions, which are against the ethos of Catholic hospitals. However, it is understood that there will be no issue with offering full services to patients at the hospital. There will be no religious control at the hospital, reports state. It is believed over €50 million has been spent on the National Maternity Hospital so far. Planning permission has also already been received. The government has vowed that the hospital at Elm Park will be a "world-class facility." It is understood that the hospital is set to cost the state up to €800 million. St Vincent’s Healthcare Group has stressed that they must retain the ownership of the site, but Government wants to own it outright. Leo Varadkar believes any issues will be resolved and has stressed that the hospital will not operate under a Catholic ethos, despite the Sisters of Charity owning the site. “I don’t have any concern about any procedure that’s lawful in the state being performed in the new National Maternity Hospital. That includes tubal ligations, includes terminations, includes gender reassignment treatments – I have no concern about that. I’m happy that what we have in various agreements covers that.”